Hi I'm New

[Janetis]

Hey all! I've haunted Everyday Systems for a while now, and finally broke down and signed up, downloaded the cal, everything, because my motivation to stick to the S,S,S plan was lacking. Browsing through the testimonials are really inspiring. Here's hoping that I'll have my own to add in the near future.

A bit about me (when it comes to food. and habits):

I think it safe to say that I almost never had a healthy, non-emotional, relationship with food and started dieting as young as 11 since I'd hit puberty early and that was terrifying. In high school I did develop a love for exercise and dance, which helped keep the weight a little more stabilized despite the weekly or bi-weekly binge.

I was vegetarian for about three years, tried raw, gave that up pretty quickly, then gave up wheat, and that I'm actually sticking too because I get mad bloated after I eat bread.

I was at my ideal weight while I was living in Pau France, where the three-meals-a-day was just how things were, and my "hidden" sugar consumption took a nose-dive. It was heavenly how quickly my body changed on that régime. I swore to myself that I would keep it up when I got back to the states, and for a good six months I actually did.

But then I moved in with a boyfriend, and then we moved so that I could go to graduate school in New York, and then I was constantly running between NYU and internships. And then we broke up. I was stressed out, and started eating emotionally again, stopped watching my sugar, etc.

I've graduated, yay, on the job hunt, ... ehh..., and to make ends meet until I ace that interview, I'm balancing a combination of freelance translation and bartending shifts. This has done no favors for my already odd eating schedule.

So here I am.

More than anything I want food to just vanish into the background, so that things that I want to think about, like the book I'm reading or what I'm writing, retrieve their place in my consciousness.

(Not to get too philosophical, but I think that part of the reason I am here and why we may become emotionally attached to food is because we give it undue importance and attention.)

I'm feeling really positive that noS can help me do that, as it has for so many of you.

Current weight: 115
Goal weight: 104

(Super petite, small-boned woman. Please keep in mind. My mother is all of 95 lbs. And by no means starving.)

[Merry]

Welcome! I hope you do well with No-S and are able to get back to those habits that helped you in the past.

[oolala53]

I feel ya regarding your schedule. I have to admit that having a job with a set lunch time has helped me. And forgoing having evening activities disrupt a good dinner time more than a couple of nights a week...

But I don't want to discourage you! It's still possible, and worth repeated efforts.

I do wonder in places like France what non-traditional workers do. Not everyone can work a day job, can they? I mean, what do the restaurant staff and the night nurses and the police do when they don't have that French lunch?

Bonne chance!

[Whosonfirst]

Congratulations on your graduation. Just out curiosity, have you set up a Linkedin.com profile to help with your job search? A great forum on there to help with like minded professionals and it's free. I'd also recommend starting a daily check in. Good luck on your job search and NoS plan.

[Janetis]

Thanks for the welcome everyone! I hate to report that I've been on and off with the program since my computer has been acting up, but the New Year is just around the corner!

I do have a profile on Linkedin, and though it hasn't been useful in helping employees find me necessarily, it has helped me find the names and positions of those who are working in companies that I would like to work for. If anyone has any leads for a position with an academic or art book publisher in New York City, keep me posted!

[MaggieMae]

Good luck on the job hunt, janetis! The great thing about NO S is you can always hop back on!